Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Dwayne Wade is in his ninth NBA season and he's now gotten behind nutrition. The Sun Sentinel reports that a campaign with Gatorade about nutrition has spawned a change in heart. "Now I'm starting to do stuff like eating salads. I never ate salads," he said regretfully, highlighting a poor eating history. "It's painful, but now I'm eating salads with all my meals."

Applaud Wade for eating more healthy food. Not only will it help Wade perform on the court, it will boost his vitality. Glad Wade has smartened up on this subject, but how did it take this long? Wade is in his ninth year and he's had a high profile for a while. Even though Wade correctly points out he was stubborn when younger, how could someone not get through to him?

Athletes must understand the importance of nutrition earlier and earlier. The sooner better things go down the hatch, the more heroics are possible on the court. The focus on better foods should be a collective message in all levels of basketball. I've tried out for a high school team before and all they really said was don't eat McDonald's.

While abstaining from McDonald's is a noble feat, it's certainly not a step in a healthy direction. Trainers, nutritionists, even coaches should tell guys about the benefits of munching on plants. Hopefully that idea (just eating more plants), will become more widely internalized.

Back to Wade, his childhood conditioned him strongly. In the Sentinel article, he talks about just eating and drinking what he could get back in high school. I get that, based on his situation that makes sense. Now he's wised up and hopes to tell other young guns what he's learned.